"A Call to Action on Prescription Drug Abuse: Current Trends in Teen Drug Use”

Presentation of the 2011 Brookline Student Health Survey

and Obama’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan

You are invited to participate in a community action planning session on prescription drug abuse among Brookline teens.  Join with students, parents, teachers, law enforcement, health care professionals, and community leaders to examine the issues and brainstorm ideas for addressing what President Obama and the Office of National Drug Control Policy consider an epidemic with dire consequences for the developing brains of America’s youth. Consider:

     Next to marijuana, the most common drugs teens are abusing are prescription medications.

      Twenty percent of U.S. high school students say they have taken Rx drugs without consulting a doctor.

      1 in 3 teens say there is “nothing wrong” with abusing Rx medications “every once in a while.”

       Rx drug use among Brookline youth results in more serious heath and behavioral issues than any other type of drug – including hospitalizations, dropping out of school and overdoses (in at least one case fatal).

Guest speaker Anthony L. Schlaff, MD, MPH; Professor of Public Health & Community Medicine; Tufts University School of Medicine, will address “Prescription Drug Abuse: Moving Beyond Education.”

The event also will include a summary of the illuminating results of the 2011 Brookline Youth Health Survey, and Peer Leaders will share their thoughts on why Brookline teens are turning with more frequency to prescription drugs and which ones they are gravitating towards. The forum’s second hour will focus on brainstorming community strategies and the development of Brookline’s Community Action Plan. 

Please RSVP to Mary Minott, mary_minott@town.brookline.ma.us